Katniss woke up feeling much better rested than she could remember. She was surprised when she noticed that she had been covered by somebody else's cloak. Though she had no idea about who it belonged to, nobody seemed inclined to give her any clue about who the owner was.

One week later they finally arrived at Bree. Until that moment, she was still constantly wondering if they were not inside an enormous arena and the dwarves were some sort of actors hired by the Capitol in another sickening reality show. But witnessing the existence of another settlement beside the Shire, seemed to make that possibility much slimmer than it already was. Slowly she was finally starting to believe that perhaps Gandalf's words could actually ring true and she had really gone back to the past.

Like many other members of the company, Katniss also used the time to do some shopping in the village. She ended up going with Bilbo, as both of them needed sleeping mats and toiletries. Later, Thorin got rooms for everybody at the Prancing Pony. Katniss and Thorin were the only ones who were not sharing a room with anybody else. Although Katniss was really looking forward to having a little bit of privacy for a change, she was also anxious about sleeping by herself, because her nightmares tended to be much worse when there was nobody else around. On the other hand, she would finally get to sleep on a bed again.

That evening she had dinner with the company at the inn's Pub. The dwarves were a very loud bunch and they clearly stood out by that and their appearance. Now that she was at Bree, the difference between the races seemed much more obvious, and she felt almost silly for failing to figure that out before. Dwarves had larger shoulders, bulkier body, muscly long arms, not to mention their well kept elaborated hair and beards.

One thing that she did not know, but soon became obvious, was the strain that seemed present between the races. Even Katniss was harassed by some random drunk junky who called her 'dwarf lover' and that he could show her what a real man was like. Before she could even think on how to react, Fíli and Kíli appeared just from behind her, ready to fight him to save her honour. In the end, she managed to hold them back and avoid the brawl to escalate into physical combat by asking the brothers to escort her back to her room instead.

And just as she predicted, her nightmares returned at full-strength. In the middle of the night, she was tormented by a dream about the Capitol bombarding the hospital at District 8. She was only able to settle down when the leader of their company invaded her room and began to whisper songs in a foreign language in her ear.

Thorin woke up immediately after hearing the low screams coming from the room just next to his own. He knew it was Katniss probably having another nightmare. Without thinking twice, he quickly put on his cloak on top of his two-piece long underwear garments, grabbed his axe and went out of his room still wearing his socks. Breaking into her bedroom was quite easy. Watching the state that she was into when he arrived, however, was not.

Katniss was having the worst soldier's fatigue episode that he had ever witnessed. She was covered in sweat, shaking and crying out loud. She was mumbling words that sounded like, "they are all dead, all dead." He also noticed that her already inappropriately short nightgown had also lost its sleeves now, making her the most undressed woman he had ever been with - including his own mother and sister. But he did not have much time to think about that, as her need for comfort was greater than anything else.

He sat down at the corner of her bed and brought her near to him as he started whispering the same song he had whispered in Khuzdul for her few evenings ago. He was caught by surprise when she clung to him, bringing him closer in a tight hug as her sobs and her breathing slowly started to fade. The smell of her hair, the feel of the soft skin of her cheeks touching his beard, her tiny hand clinging on the thin fabric of the neckline of his shirt and rubbing the back of her hand on his hairy chest. Her naked arms pressing hard against his body. The sight of thin small hairs that covered both her exposed long legs, the vision of a golden locket around her neck resting on top of her breasts… all of these smells, visions and sensations were driving him insane.

His heart was beating fast, and he had to employ every single inch of his self-discipline to not start stroking her luxurious ebony hair now and then. He was well aware that if any member of his company were to catch them in that position, both of their reputations could be permanently tarnished. Not that anyone would dare to say anything about it in front of him anyway.

Her loud sobs soon dwindled into a silent cry. Thorin remained there, strong as a rock giving her all the support that he could wield. They remained in that embrace for almost an hour, before Katniss had the courage to move away from it and whispered his name like a prayer.

"Thorin…" her hands still lingered on his body, almost if she was afraid of letting him go "Thank you for staying with me."

He nodded and just as she was starting to move away from his personal space, he decided to share something very personal with her.

"Katniss… I… I used to have nightmares like the ones you are having now when I was a young dwarf too. I still have them sometimes, but they are much less frequent now."

"What did you do to make it stop?"

"I talked. I talked about what happened to my kinsman. You should do that. Try talking about it to someone else… it will help."

She nodded.

"I will. I promise. I just…" but instead of saying something, she hugged him again. Caught by surprise, Thorin left a groan of pleasure escaping his lips and he truly hoped she would not have noticed. "Please, stay?" she begged with a whisper in his ear making him shiver.

"My Lady?" he pulled her back from the embrace, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Please, don't go. Stay here with me tonight… please," and she made room for him to join her on the bed.

"Miss Everdeen…" Thorin whispered unsure of what else to say or do. Mahal have mercy, he thought. And it was in that moment he was sure that he was doomed.

Thorin stayed with her until the sun rose. After that evening's events, he was unable to go back to sleep, though he was more than happy to stand guard so the only female member of his company could finally relax.

The King in Exile had been looking forward to staying at Bree with his men. For some of those who had been travelling in the wild for a while, this would be the first time in months that they would have the chance to sleep in something other than a sleeping mat. It was also their last chance to get supplies before they went back to the wild.

It was nice to treat them with the luxury of having a meal on a table with chairs and ale, for a change. If everything went according to his plan, the next time they would be able to have comforts like these should only be when they reached Lake Town.

Most of his company were already finishing their breakfast when Katniss Everdeen arrived at the inn's Pub. She had her armour on, her bow and quiver on her shoulders and her head up high. She behaved and looked as if nothing had happened the previous night. Thorin was not sure if he should be feeling relieved or hurt that she barely paid him any notice when she joined their table and claimed the empty chair between Bilbo and Bifur. Without giving her another glance, he decided it was time to go and sort some last-minute details for their journey.

After a few days on the road, Katniss' horse-riding skills had improved considerably. She would never admit, but following Fíli's advice on how to maintain a good horse-riding posture, had diminished her saddle soreness. On a sad note, she was under the impression that Thorin was going out of his way to avoid her company unless there were other people around. That annoyed her to no end because since Bree, she had decided that she wanted to have a go at telling him more about the things she went through during and after the games. She was not sure why but having him walking away from her every time she sought his companionship did sting deep inside her.

Every company member seemed to have a different way to cope with the long haul journey to Erebor. Thorin seemed to prefer solitude and remained on the front most of the time; Dwalin seemed to join him there often enough, but otherwise, he usually stuck on the back of the pack. Balin seemed content on just sharing a conversation or two with any member of the company, he even tried to start a conversation with her a couple of times. Dori seemed to like to mollycoddle both his younger brothers. Ori never missed an opportunity to have his nose stuck in his journal and Nori enjoyed playing a game of snatching things that did not belong to him.

Gloin enjoyed talking about his family, especially his wife and his son. His brother Oin seemed a gentle fellow who loved to talk about herbs and birds. Bifur kept to himself, though he was usually very nice towards her. Bombur loved to talk about his wife and his fourteen children. Bofur loved to find an excuse to start singing a new song. Fíli and Kíli seemed to get great pleasure by annoying the others; Thorin and her in particular. Bilbo enjoyed talking about the Shire and playing charades, while Gandalf seemed to be content by observing the others, though he never missed an opportunity of making some remarkably clever comments every now and then.

Katniss spent most of her time in between trying to spot hidden cameras and trying to busy her mind, by paying attention to the others so she would not need to confront her own thoughts and feelings.

"Why do you look like you are trying to find something hidden among the trees, Lady Katniss?" Fíli asked her.

"I am trying to see if I can find a hidden camera somewhere..."

"What is a camera?"

"Exactly. If you lot are actors, I just want to let the Capitol know that you are extremely good ones. You have me convinced. Now let me out because I am sick of horse-riding. And I know that the audience must be bored to the extreme…"

"Audience? My Lady, if you really want an audience with Uncle, I am sure he will be more than happy to oblige..." Kíli grinned full of mischief, and Thorin gave a loud growl all the way from the front of the pack, making his nephew's eyes shine even more.

"Come on, we have been camping here for weeks and no attacks, no fireballs, nobody betrayed anyone yet..." Katniss sounded almost frustrated.

"Da ye want to be attacked?" Dwalin asked from the back in complete shock.

"Betrayal is a serious offence, Lass. You should not talk about this lightly," Balin frowned.

"Hey, Lady Katniss," Kíli called her attention. "What is the meaning of this golden pin attached to your armour? Is it a courting gift?"

Katniss felt her face burn. She could feel every single pair of eyes and ears were observing her.

"No, that is not a courting gift. It is a Mockingjay pin. It is a token from my District…"

"What is a Mockingjay, Miss Katniss?" Ori asked.

"Mockinjays are a cross between Mockingbirds and Jabberjays. Jabberjays were black, nasty birds engineered by the Capitol to spy on the rebels, as they can repeat entire conversations back to their Masters. When the rebels realised how the Capitol was spying on them, they decided to deceive the Jabberjays by feeding them misleading information. Once the Capitol realised what had happened, they decided to exterminate all the Jabberjays, but not before some had mated with Mockingbirds…"

"So all the Jabberjays died…?"

"Most of them died, yes. But a new type of bird was born, the Mockingjays. They are now a symbol of the revolution. They are a reminder that the Capitol cannot control everything…"

"Jabberjays seem to be similar to Crebain crows…" Gandalf mumbled more to himself than to the company.

"Maybe they are the same bird, but we know them by a different name. Or maybe Crebain are the great-great-great-grandparents of the Jabberjays, right Gandalf?" Katniss told the wizard who nodded in agreement before he took his pipe out his pocket.

There were a few seconds of silence before Kíli broke it again.

"So does that mean you never had a suitor? Has anyone ever courted you in the future?" Kíli asked her with a glint of hope in his eyes.

Memories of Peeta and Gale immediately invaded her head. Katniss could not help but give Kíli a murderous glare. Without saying anything else, she galloped her horse away from where he was to the front of the company just next to where Thorin was riding. Thorin frowned his eyebrows as he looked from her to his nephew, who gave him an apologetic look. Thorin on the other hand retaliated by giving him a glare of his own and signalling in Iglishmêk that the young prince was going to pay for that later.

When Thorin looked back at Katniss, he noticed that her eyes were closed, and one single silent tear was falling from it. Her fist was clutching on the golden locket that he did not know she possessed until he invaded her bedroom at Bree to calm her down. Thorin felt his own heart shattering into pieces as another teardrop marred her face. He could not help but think that perhaps she did have a suitor after all.